Mocha, a counselor and volunteer coordinator at Camp Kesem Michigan, entered an essay on Mesothelioma into a contest to win a $5,000 scholarship to help pay for her education. She hopes to be able to further her education toward a public health degree and continue to spread awareness on the disease that took her Father […]

November 8, 2012

National Summit

This past weekend, the CKUMich coordinators had the chance to spend some time at Camp Copneconic with Kesem’s 41 other chapters for this year’s National Summit. As a CK community, we were able to discuss best practices and come up with exciting new ideas, all while getting to know coordinators from other campuses.

I’m sure that I can speak for everyone when I say that I had an amazing time at this year’s Summit. I learned a ton about social media & web management, and got the chance to meet a lot of amazing people within the CK community. While, like everyone else, I learned a colossal amount from my various seminars in terms of ways to improve both myself as a coordinator and the work I’m putting out, I felt like I came away with much more than contacts and notes.

In the procession of to-do lists, meetings and planning that is a coordinator postion, it sometimes becomes hard to see the forest through the trees. Participation becomes more about getting what’s in front of me done, as opposed to keeping an eye on the ultimate goal we are all working towards as a group. Going to the summit and being surrounded by so many people who give just as much as you do to a cause that they care just as much about allowed me to get back to the bigger picture; the summit was a unifying experience for me, as well as an amazing motivator. Camp Kesem as an organization has always been such an inspiring story to me, as are the stories of so many campers and families that have it has impacted. The summit reminded me of the people that we are all working for, putting a face (or many, many faces) to what I’m doing, and ultimately recharging my motivation to contribute to such an amazing community.